| Patent Number |
Title Of Patent |
Date Issued |
| 7533575 |
Quasistatic magnetic and electric field stress/strain gages |
May 19, 2009 |
| Magnetic or electric field sensors are mounted against a material surface and used for stress, strain, and load monitoring of rotating components such as vehicle drive trains. The stationary sensors are mounted at multiple locations around the component and used assess the stress on the |
| 7526964 |
Applied and residual stress measurements using magnetic field sensors |
May 5, 2009 |
| Methods are described for the use of conformable eddy-current sensors and sensor arrays for characterizing residual stresses and applied loads in materials. In addition, for magnetizable materials such as steels, these methods can be used to determine carbide content and to inspect for |
| 7518360 |
Hybrid wound/etched winding constructs for scanning and monitoring |
April 14, 2009 |
| Combined wound and micro-fabricated winding constructs are described for the inspection of materials and the detection and characterization of hidden features or flaws. These constructs can be configured as sensors or sensor arrays that are surface mounted or scanned over conducting |
| 7451657 |
Material condition monitoring with multiple sensing modes |
November 18, 2008 |
| Methods are described for assessing material condition. These methods include the use of multiple source fields for interrogating and loading of a multicomponent test material. Source fields include electric, magnetic, thermal, and acoustic fields. The loading field preferentially ch |
| 7348771 |
Method for verifying sensor condition |
March 25, 2008 |
| Sensor condition verification may be performed on electromagnetic sensors and sensor arrays mounted to a material surface. The sensors typically have a periodic winding or electrode structure that creates a periodic sensing field when driven by an electrical signal. The sensors can be |
| 7280940 |
Segmented field dielectric sensor array for material characterization |
October 9, 2007 |
| The condition of insulating and semiconducting dielectric materials is assessed by a sensor array that uses electric fields to interrogate the test material. The sensor has a linear array of parallel drive conductors interconnected to form a single drive electrode and sense conductors |
| 7230421 |
Damage standard fabrication with attached sensor |
June 12, 2007 |
| Reference standards or articles having prescribed levels of damage are fabricated by monitoring an electrical property of the article material, mechanically loading the article, and removing the load when a change in electrical properties indicates a prescribed level of damage. The e |
| 7188532 |
Self-monitoring metals, alloys and materials |
March 13, 2007 |
| Observability of damage precursor, damage and usage states, or event occurrence may be enhanced by modifying component materials to include self-monitoring materials or by processing test material to alter the surface properties. The properties of the self monitoring materials, such |
| 7161351 |
Hidden feature characterization using a database of sensor responses |
January 9, 2007 |
| Quasistatic sensor responses may be converted into multiple model parameters to characterize hidden properties of a material. Methods of conversion use databases of responses and, in some cases, databases that include derivatives of the responses, to estimate at least three unknown m |
| 7161350 |
Method for material property monitoring with perforated, surface mounted sensors |
January 9, 2007 |
| Material condition monitoring may be performed by electromagnetic sensors and sensor arrays mounted to the material surface. The sensors typically have a periodic winding or electrode structure that creates a periodic sensing field when driven by an electrical signal. The sensors can be |
| 7106055 |
Fabrication of samples having predetermined material conditions |
September 12, 2006 |
| Fabrication of samples having material conditions or damage representative of actual components inspected by nondestructive testing involves sensors placed near or mounted on the material surface, such as flexible eddy current sensors or sensor arrays, to monitor the material condition w |
| 7095224 |
Process control and damage monitoring |
August 22, 2006 |
| A process control method is described which uses measurements from magnetic field sensors to monitor the condition of material, such as from a heat treatment process. The sensors can be single element sensors or sensor arrays, can be used to periodically inspect selected locations, m |
| 6995557 |
High resolution inductive sensor arrays for material and defect characterization of welds |
February 7, 2006 |
| A sensor that characterizes welds in materials. The sensor includes a meandering drive winding with at least three extended portions and at least one sensing element placed between an adjacent pair of extended portions. A time varying electric current is passed through the extended p |
| 6952095 |
Surface mounted and scanning spatially periodic eddy-current sensor arrays |
October 4, 2005 |
| Inductive sensors measure the near surface properties of conducting and magnetic material. A sensor may have primary windings with parallel extended winding segments to impose a spatially periodic magnetic field in a test material. Those extended portions may be formed by adjacent po |
| 6798198 |
Fluid supports for sensors |
September 28, 2004 |
| Pressurized elastic support structures or balloons are used to press flexible sensors against the surface a material under test. Rigid support elements can also be incorporated into the inspection devices to maintain the basic shape of the inspection structure and to facilitate positioni |
| 6727691 |
High resolution inductive sensor arrays for material and defect characterization of welds |
April 27, 2004 |
| A sensor that characterizes welds in materials. The sensor includes a meandering drive winding with at least three extended portions and at least one sensing element placed between an adjacent pair of extended portions. A time varying electric current is passed through the extended p |
| 6657429 |
Material condition assessment with spatially periodic field sensors |
December 2, 2003 |
| Inductive sensors measure the near surface properties of conducting magnetic materials. The sensors generally include parallel winding segments to induce a spatially periodic magnetic field in a material under test. The sensors may provide a directionally dependent measure with measu |
